The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta has appointed five members to serve as the board of directors of the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF) for a period of three years.
Speaking at the appointment ceremony on Thursday, Shifeta said the EIF was established in 2011 to mobilise funding for the maintenance of an endowment fund to generate income for projects towards the sustainable use of managing the environment.
He emphasised that with the outgoing board, EIF despite a difficult economic and financial climate was able to mobilise approximately N$560 million in grants for projects relating to climate change adaptation interventions.
The new board members are Titus Ndove (chairperson), Karen Knot (deputy chairperson), Desire Theunissen, Kisco Sinvula and Olavi Hamutumwa.
Further, EIF has been instrumental in the establishment of a credit facility known as the Sustainable Utilisation of Natural Resources and Energy Financing Programme worth approximately N$800 million, supported by the French Development Agency.
In addition, Shifeta noted that EIF received 30% of all environmental taxes on incandescent bulbs, tyres and carbon emissions, plastic bags, lubricant oils and batteries, and to date the EIF has received N$31 million from the Ministry of Finance.
“As the minister responsible for ensuring the protection of the environment, it is pleasing for me that environmental taxes on harmful products have been introduced in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance.”
Shifeta said there is a need for EIF to have a strategic focus on environmental taxes and to ensure that this is adequately capitalised so that it can execute its projects efficiently and effectively.
He added that there is a need to ensure the finalisation of amendment to the founding Environmental Investment Fund Act of 2001, noting that the Act is outdated and it is important to reflect the shifts that have taken place since then, both in terms of issues such as climate change as well as new financing and funding options that have since become available.
– Nampa